Real Good Man
by I Need A Creative Penname
Summary: My 1st Mummy fic! Short story, bit of a continuation of TM. From Rick's POV. Miscommunications cause problems in his relationship with Evy. Dun dun dun. Fluff alert! Read and review!


_Idea for this one came to me this afternoon as I was driving home from my cousin's house. Tim McGraw's "Real Good Man" came over the stereo and suddenly I had this whole thing planned out in my head. I also stole the title. Haha. Sigh. I really need to get out more. Anyway, it's my first mummy fic so please be nice with reviews and such. _

_Takes place after TM; Rick and Evy have just arrived back in Cairo._

_I am rather partial to spelling it "Evy". And in any case, that's how it's spelled on the subtitles for The Mummy. So, go figure._

_I fixed the little things that I missed when I spelled checked. Sorry about that. I have a habit of not catching things like that; I hate reading my own stuff._

_Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters or the related delays. (I'll probably do no justice what so ever to the characters anyway…) All said characters and such are property of Stephan Summers and all that. And yeah yeah, the title belongs to whoever wrote the song "Real Good Man." _

_Enjoy. _

_**********_

**_Real Good Man_**

She didn't change her mind until we got back to Cairo, the little tease. Before that it was all kisses and hugs; flirtatious looks, semi-innuendos….the list goes on. However, the moment we arrived back in town, her whole demeanor changed again. She became "Librarian Evy" again. The glasses came out, the starchy outfits were back, and her hair was pulled back into those bun thingies that were way to complicated for me to figure out. She hardly ever let me kiss her anymore and when she did, it was usually a short peck on the lips. I missed the old Evy, the one I had gotten use to on our trip. 

At the moment, she sat across from me at a small table for two. The café wasn't too busy; it was a hot Wednesday afternoon and anyone who had any sense at all was at home. But Evy had wanted some "real food" as opposed to the shit- I mean junk- that the hotel served. I'd had to start watching my language, at her request. Being the whipped boyfriend that I am, I had agreed to take her out, thinking it would be a good change to be alone. But now her nose was buried in the menu, her visible brow furrowed. I sat just watching her, trying to figure out what in the hell was going on. 

"Should I get the avocado sandwich, or the bowl of chilled soup?"

It was a rhetorical question, I could tell by the tone of her voice, but I grunted a reply anyway. I really didn't care what she had, quite frankly. I just wanted her to talk to me, we never really talked anymore. All those nights in the desert, we had lain side by side discussing everything and nothing at the same time. It was the most I had ever connected to another person in my life. And now that it was absent, I felt the void heavily. 

Evy finally looked up over her menu and gave me a concerned glance. "Something the matter?" she asked, pushing her glasses up onto the bridge of her nose. 

I sighed heavily and sat back in the uncomfortable chair. "You tell me…" I responded apathetically. I was getting really tired of her little games. 

Setting the menu down on the table, Evy cocked her head in that cute little way she had. It made my body tense; I loved it when she did that. "Does this have to do with the fact that Jonathan and I are leaving next week?" she asked slowly, a worried shadow crossing her face. 

What? "What!?" 

My exuberant comment shocked Evelyn so much she sat up suddenly in her chair. "Yes," she said, "we got a passage to Alexandria two afternoons ago. Jonathan said he was going to tell you…" Her eyes lowered to the table and I saw her shoulders sink. 

"He forgot to mention it," I mumbled gruffly. I was angry with the little bastard, but more confused by the phrase 'Jonathan and I….' Didn't she mean 'we're leaving next week?' "There weren't three tickets?" I asked tensely, wondering if there were only two, why she wasn't taking me.

Evy was taken aback and it showed in her face. "Well, yes. But I thought you were planning on staying here."

"What in the hell gave you that idea?" I exploded, my voice raising about six octaves. The rest of the café faded away as I started at her in disbelief. This was certainly something new.

Her eyes lowered into tiny slits. "Don't you dare raise your voice at me O'Connell," she said icily, completely avoiding my question. 

That got me; O'Connell. I suddenly remembered just who I was sitting here with. "I'm sorry," I mumbled, trying to control the level of the apology. "I just….I'm not going with you?"

Evy looked completely confused. "I- I thought you wanted to stay here. Your whole life is here," she stammered quietly. 

"You're my life," I answered sincerely. That made her blush, making my heart race. It reminded me other times she had blushed at something I had said or done. These usually involved me whispering things that she wasn't used to…or my hands in places she wasn't used to. "You don't want me to go?" I asked softly, looking down at the table. It was the worst possible end to this entire relationship. 

When she didn't answer me, I looked up. She was trying very hard not to cry; made me feel like a jerk. But I was still angry, and worried. "Look," I whispered, reaching across the table to pick up her hand. It was warm and for once she didn't pull it away. "I'm serious Evelyn. You're my whole life now….besides you I got nothing." I half expected her to correct my grammar, but she just sat there avoiding my gaze. "I would do anything for you. I want to be with you. I-I love you," I finished quickly. My heart was pounding; I'd never said that to a woman before and actually meant it. But I was in love with her, and I knew it was real this time because it was like nothing I had felt before. The thought of having her leave and me not follow made my insides turn. 

She sighed heavily and looked into my eyes, her own brimming over with tears. "Rick don't do this…" she pleaded softly, pulling her hand away. She looked around, grabbing her purse and then started to push the seat back.

"Evelyn-" 

"I've got to go," she whispered, cutting me off. With one last look, she blinked a few times and then walked out. It realized for the first time that there were people staring at us. I brushed them off with my hand and mumbled something in Arabic, I wasn't entirely sure what. All I knew was that I only knew the swear words and that I had probably used them creatively and crudely, considering the circumstances. 

Dumbfounded, I sat back in my chair. Had she just ended things with me? After all we had been through she had ended things just like that, with a shitty 'I've got to go'? I was filled with a million different emotions, torn between wanting to cry, wanting to go get drunk and get back at her for ruining my life….or go after her. I realized the last would be the best choice if I wanted to try and patch things up. Pushing the chair back loudly, I stormed out of the café, forgetting my jacket as I did so.

When I came outside, the sun was bright and it took a few moments for my eyes to focus on anything, let alone her. Frantically, I looked around, finally spotting her about fifteen yards away, walking in the direction of the hotel. Thankfully, there weren't many people out, so I took off in a sprint and caught up to her in no time. 

The shock on her face was large when I grabbed her by the arm and spun her around quickly. It took her a moment to realize that it wasn't an attacker, that it was simply the man whose heart she had ripped out. That made two walking dead she had dealt with in the last two weeks, because the way I felt when I thought of being without her was the same as if I were six feet under. 

"What do you think you are doing?" she demanded, her voice identical to when she had exclaimed the same question to me before. With some malice, she pulled her arm away from my grip and looked at me haughtily. There were still tears in her eyes, but now they mostly flashed with anger. 

"What the hell just happed, damn it?" I asked roughly, throwing my hands up in the air.

"Don't make a scene, its not proper," she warned me. 

"I'll make a scene if I fell like it!" I roared back. She was making me madder by the second. "Do you not want me around Evelyn, is that it? Because I was under the impression that you did. I thought we had something Evy! You know, you're the biggest tease I know! You can't kiss someone like that, then go back to being a prude, and not have it mean anything, it's not fair!" I was blabbing now, and she knew it. 

"Don't say things like that," she responded to my kissing comment.

"God damn it, none of these people speak much English anyway," I answered, gesturing around. I sighed angrily and folded my arms across my chest. "Are you finished with me?"

Evelyn closed her eyes for a few moments and when she opened them back up, there were fresh tears pouring out. The anger was gone, replaced by something else. I couldn't quite say for sure, but it almost looked like…tenderness. "Of course not," she whispered unsteadily. 

I calmed down a little when she said that. She was trying hard not to cry again and suddenly I had a heart again. Tentatively, I moved to put my arms around her. I felt her body stiffen at first, but then she melted into my embrace. "What's this about?" I whispered into her ear, pulling her closer. I didn't even care that there were probably gawking natives about, in fact, the thought never even crossed my mind. 

"Rick," her voice was hoarse, "I never- I never expected, all those nights, that you would stick around when we got back here. It was a wake up call, being with the real world again. I've been waiting for you to leave."

"What?" I asked softly. "Evelyn, how could you think that?" 

"I don't know," she mumbled, her voice still cracking. "I just assumed that you would just stay behind, that Jonathan and I would go back to England alone. You're such a free spirit Rick."

"So are you," I pointed out, kissing the side of her head. 

"Yes, but I could see myself setting down and getting married."

I pulled her away from my body and looked into her eyes. "What makes you think I wouldn't do the same?"

Her eyes became very wide. "I thought you would want to go back to the legion or whatever you did. You're such a bad boy Rick." The phrase almost made me want to smile, almost, but not quite. "I didn't think I actually mattered to you. I thought you were being nice or whatever," she mumbled weakly, looking down at her shoes. "And then you brought up all this stuff about loving me and it confused me."

With trembling hands, I lifted her chin with the index finger of my right hand. When her eyes finally met my own, I whispered, "I _do_ love you." 

"Rick, you're making it harder for me to leave…" she pleaded softly, burring her face against my chest. "That's why I've been avoiding you, not letting myself feel anything for you." 

She was still leaving? "Evy," I pulled her away in correspondence with her name. "Do you love me?"

Nodding tenderly, she started to cry. "I do Rick, very much so."

"Then what's the problem?" I asked, my voice getting that patronizing tone to it again. She hated it when I did it, and not in a good way. 

"I would never work," she sobbed, leaning against me again. I rocked her gently as she continued talk- or rather try to talk. All of her words kind of blended together and the crying made it hard for me to understand. "You would get bored of me because I am just a boring girl and you'll fall out of love with me and then you'll leave. And I'll be all alone knowing what we had and wanting it back." She started to cry so hard now that it made it impossible for her to say another word. I just stood there holding her for a long time, using the time to organize my own thoughts. I had never been good with words in my entire life, but I was sure as hell going to try now. 

"Evy," I whispered when she was calmed down a bit. "Look you're not a boring girl. I mean, to me you're not. Honestly, I get this little twinge of excitement whenever I see you, or touch you," for effect I ran my finger across her bare arm. "And I've never felt that before for anyone." This was not going as I had planned. I pulled her tighter to my body, hoping to get more of the point across. "Evy, I love you. I love everything about you. I couldn't just leave you, the thought makes me sick. I've never felt like this for anyone. I want to be with you all the time, morning and night. I want to kiss you and just listen to you talk at the same time." I was just blabbing now, but I didn't care anymore. "We belong together Evelyn. You have no idea how much I want that."

I didn't expect her to reply, but she did. "Yes I do," she mumbled against my shirt. She had stopped crying; I could understand her better now. "Because I do too."

"Then why can't we make it work Evelyn? You've made me change already, and I like it better now." Gently, I pulled her away again. "Look, you're the best thing to ever happen to me…in my entire life. I'm not going to let you just leave me. And I'm sure as hell not going to leave you." 

She was quiet for a few minutes as I stood there, holding her at arms length and feeling like an idiot. I had said it all, everything that was in my heart. And I had no idea how she would react. Sighing, she looked down at the ground and my heart sank- but just for a minute. Because then she looked back at me, cocked her head, and broke into a soft smile.

"All those things you just said Rick; they're exactly what's been racing through my head since we got back. I've never felt this way before either." 

My smile must have been as big as the Grand Canyon as I stared at her. "So…" 

"So I'll get another ticket," was the only thing she got to say before I had thrown my arms around her again and pulled her into a tight hug. She responded by kissing nipping at my ear softy and then leaving a trail of kisses across my cheek and down to where my lips met hers. So much for propriety. 

When I finally broke it off, (and I emphasize 'I'….she would have gladly kept going if I hadn't pulled away) I looked at her for a long time. "Will you marry me?" I asked in a rush. "I- I don't have a ring, but I can get you one…this afternoon if you want."

She started crying again, but they were happy tears this time. With an excited shout, she threw her arms around my neck and kissed me quickly. "Yes," she agreed softly, but affirmatively.

I'd never been so happy in my entire life and let her know by pulling her closer, finishing that kiss. This went on for some time, but then it both occurred to us that we were getting a little to affectionate in the middle of the sidewalk. We broke apart and with Evelyn giggling, I put my arm around her wait and started walking back to the hotel. 

"So about this 'bad boy' stuff…" I teased sometime later, breaking the silence. We had gotten far enough away that no one would recognize us as the depraved couple of the street. She stopped walking and I turned back to see her blushing furiously. 

"You are," she defended herself, putting her hands on her hips and giving me a sly glace. 

I chuckled and walked over to where she stood. "Really?" I asked, grinning like an idiot. Without difficulty, I removed her hands from her hips and replaced them with my own. She was so tiny, so slender. I gave her hip bones a little squeeze and felt her body tremble. 

"Oh yes," she whispered, inching closer to me. Her mood changed; her face was no longer red nor her eyes tender. They had another look to them. They were on fire, as I'm sure my own were. But this was no angry fire, this was a burning, wicked fire. I'd never seen a look of desire so strong in a woman before, certainly not in Evy. "But I bet you're a real good man," she whispered, putting her arms around my neck. 

I was to shocked to do much of anything, so I did the one thing that came to my mind: I kissed her, ravishingly, unable to control myself. She responded like I hoped she would; warmly and urgently. A million thoughts raced through my brain, most of which were inappropriate and I was sure I would get a sift kick in the shin if I let anyone know whet they were. Some, however, were different. I couldn't really explain them. All I knew was that I had to be the happiest man in the world, and I hated myself for not confronting her sooner. It scared me to think she was just a few days away from getting on that train and leaving me forever. I never would have forgiven myself. 

She had changed me, this girl. She made me stronger, happier; made me want to be a better person. She awakened feelings inside of me that I was sure Rick O'Connell did not possess. She had become my whole world. I was everything I was because of her. And I sure as hell wasn't going to get her walk away.

_Hey_, my mind raced with only one thing now, _you're being so unselfish O'Connell. That's another thing. She made you grow up! She's made you a real man!_

A real good man indeed. 

I almost chuckled…almost, but not quite.


End file.
